Geneva or Genoa?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Genoa gives a swimmer much more. It has warm, clear sea from June into September, the little cove at Boccadasse, platforms below the cliffs at Nervi, and the Riviera towns from Camogli to Sestri Levante a short train ride along the coast. Expect pebbles, rented loungers and crowded summer weekends.

Geneva swims in its lake instead. Diving off the jetty at the Bains des Pâquis with the Jet d'Eau in view is a real pleasure, but the water stays cold until June, and the lido lawns and pools make it a summer extra rather than a reason to come.

Genoa is the more rewarding place to eat. Pesto, oily focaccia at breakfast, pansoti in walnut sauce and chickpea farinata from old-style friggitorie make up a strongly local table, and much of it is cheap street food. The Mercato Orientale and the harbour trattorias add seafood with a glass of Vermentino.

Geneva's strengths lie elsewhere: lake perch, fondue in wood-panelled brasseries, Chasselas from the canton's own vineyards, and a wider international and fine-dining range than Genoa's mostly regional cooking. It lacks casual street food, and every meal is expensive.

Genoa has much more to see. The caruggi of its huge medieval quarter, the Rolli palaces along Via Garibaldi with their painted halls and Van Dycks, the striped cathedral and the marble of Staglieno can fill several unhurried days, and many visitors are surprised by how much there is.

Geneva tells a narrower but distinctive story: Calvin's St Pierre Cathedral and the Reformation Wall, then the Palais des Nations, the Red Cross museum and CERN on the city's world role. It is well presented and covered comfortably in two or three days.

Both cities wind down early on weeknights, and neither is a place for big nights out. In Geneva the late bars are in the slightly rough-edged Pâquis, Carouge has wine terraces, and the squat-born cultural centres around Plainpalais and Jonction host club nights and a small electronic scene.

Genoa's evenings are more about aperitivo with students in the medieval squares around Piazza delle Erbe, with waterfront bars at the Porto Antico and beach clubs along the coast in summer. Expect cheaper drinks and an older, more sociable street crowd, but fewer places to dance.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, but the landscapes differ. Geneva is about mountains: the cable car up the Salève, forest trails and cross-country skiing on the Jura, Chamonix about an hour away and ski resorts close enough for a winter day. Sailing and paddleboarding on the lake fill the summer.

Genoa looks to the sea from steep hills, with fortress walks above the city, cliff paths to San Fruttuoso on the Portofino promontory and the Cinque Terre trails. Whale and dolphin trips into the Pelagos Sanctuary, kayaking and diving give it a marine side that Geneva cannot offer.

Both have a long list of outings, so the choice comes down to what you want to see. From Geneva, lake steamers and trains reach Lausanne, the Lavaux vineyard terraces and the Château de Chillon, while France adds Yvoire and Annecy, so lakes, castles and two countries fill a week.

Genoa's railway runs along the coast past Camogli, Portofino and the Cinque Terre, with quieter walled towns such as Finale Ligure Borgo to the west. It also has the bonus of Milan and Turin, each about an hour and a half away, for a big-city museum day.

Genoa has the stronger pull for children, thanks to the Porto Antico. Its aquarium is one of the largest in Europe, and next to it are the science centre, the biosphere and a submarine to walk through, with funiculars and public lifts as rides in their own right. The trade-off is steep, dark lanes and stairs that are hard with a pushchair.

Geneva is the easier city to handle, being flat, safe and tram-friendly, but it has less to aim at. The Natural History Museum's dioramas, small animal enclosures and the little yellow harbour boats last two or three days before a mountain outing is needed.

Geneva is far simpler to get around. The centre is a flat walk from the station to Carouge, trams and buses run like clockwork, the harbour boats are part of the same network, and the airport is only minutes away by train.

In Genoa you walk a lot and climb a lot. Funiculars, a rack railway and lifts help with the hills, but there is only one short metro line and buses crawl through congested streets. The coastal railway is its best asset for reaching Nervi and the Riviera.

Geneva is the shopping city of the two, and for watches and jewellery the boutiques of the Rue du Rhône are among the best anywhere. Carouge's small design workshops and the Plainpalais flea market add character, though ordinary high-street shopping is unremarkable.

Genoa is better for things to eat and small crafts: candied fruit, olive oil and pesto from long-established old-town shops, plus silver filigree and coral. Via XX Settembre covers the familiar Italian labels without much luxury.

The gap here is very wide. Geneva is among the most expensive cities a visitor can choose, with costly rooms all year and meals priced well above most of Europe. Free museums, the free transport given to hotel guests and sleeping across the border in France ease the cost only a little.

Genoa feels like good value for northern Italy, with cheap focaccia and farinata, fair trattoria lunches and inexpensive funiculars. Costs rise mainly in the smart Riviera resorts in summer and with lounger rental on beach days.

Geneva has the fuller classical calendar. Opera and ballet, the city's orchestra and French-language drama each have a stage of their own, so a music lover staying several nights can see something different each evening, and a French speaker can add an evening at the theatre.

Genoa puts opera, ballet and symphony together at the Carlo Felice, and its plays are performed in Italian. What it has that Geneva lacks is a musical identity of its own: concerts in honour of Paganini, who was born here, and small clubs where the Genoese songwriting tradition lives on. That fills an evening or two, but it is not a reason to choose the city.

Geneva is the more restful city. In winter the Bains des Pâquis turns into a sauna and hammam with plunges into the cold lake, the lakefront hotels have proper spas, Évian and Divonne are close by, and the city's quiet Sundays slow everything down.

Genoa's centre is all port traffic and crowded lanes, and its spas are mostly in hotels. For calm you head to Nervi's villa gardens or for long lunches in the Riviera villages, and for thermal water to Acqui Terme, a little over an hour away.